Wind Park Receives $169 Million Partial Loan Guarantee

WASHINGTON — The Department of Energy (DOE) finalized a $169 million partial loan guarantee to the Granite Reliable Power windpark, announced by U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

The loan guarantee will support a 99-megawatt wind generation project — New Hampshire’s largest wind farm — located about 110 miles north of Concord in Coos County, according to the department. The wind generation project will consist of 33 Vestas V90 3.0-MW wind turbines and is expected to generate enough electricity to power about 20,000 homes and divert more than 124,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually.

Project sponsors BAIF Granite Holdings, LLC and Freshet Wind Energy, LLC, expect the project to fund nearly 200 construction jobs.

“Today’s investment brings new jobs to New Hampshire and supports the commercial-scale deployment of clean energy technologies in the U.S.,” Chu said. “America’s wind energy resources are abundant, clean and mostly untapped. Continued investments in this source of emissions-free energy will strengthen the economy, create good American jobs and help the nation compete with other countries that are quickly scaling up wind power generation.”

A statement from the Department of Energy saidThe DOE states that the majority of the power from the project will be sold to Central Vermont Public Service and Green Mountain Power.

WestLB AG is the lender-applicant for the project, which was submitted under the Financial Institution Partnership Program, according to the department.